As computer systems are becoming more powerful, they may increasingly be used for computationally intensive image-processing tasks. Specifically, the motion picture industry may increasingly rely on computer systems to modify and preview films.
FIG. 1 presents a flowchart that illustrates a digital motion picture workflow.
A typical digital motion picture workflow begins when scene 102 may be captured on negative film 104 by a camera. Next, the camera's negative film 104 may be scanned to produce digital picture file 106. Digital picture file 106 may be encoded in a number of file formats. For example, the digital picture file may be a DPX/Cineon file (Digital Picture Exchange).
Digital picture file 106 may then be edited on a computer system and recorded onto negative film 110. Next, negative film 110 may be processed to produce positive print film 112. Finally, positive print film 112 may be used to project an image in a theatre by projecting it on theatre (or cinema) screen 114.
Editing a digital picture file 106 on a computer system may adversely affect the appearance of the edited scenes when they are projected on theatre screen 114. Specifically, scenes or special effects added to digital picture file 106, or manipulated during the editing process, may not match the look and feel of unedited scenes when they are projected on theatre screen 114.
Digital picture file 106 may be used to generate preview 108 of the digital motion picture as it may appear on the theatre screen 114. Some techniques may use a look-up table to convert input pixel values in digital picture file 106 to output pixel values that correspond to images appearing on theatre screen 114.
Typically, prior art techniques may use empirical techniques to generate the look-up table. A special digital picture file 106 that contains a number of color patches may be developed and projected onto a theatre screen. Next, the color of a region in the projected picture may be compared with the color of the corresponding region in digital picture file 106 to determine the value of the corresponding entry in the look-up table.
Reference is made in the following detailed description to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, wherein like numerals may designate like parts throughout to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. It will be appreciated that for simplicity and/or clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and/or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of claimed subject matter. It should also be noted that directions and references, for example, up, down, top, bottom, and so on, may be used to facilitate the discussion of the drawings and are not intended to restrict the application of claimed subject matter. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense and the scope of claimed subject matter defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.